Thursday, September 25, 2014

Supernatural Friday: The Story Behind the Jack-O-Lantern

Come now, friends and fiends, and enjoy the
following tale behind the jack-o-lantern. Every October, carved pumpkins
peer out from porches and doorsteps in the United States and other parts of
the world. Gourd-like orange fruits inscribed with ghoulish faces and
illuminated by candles are a sure sign of the Halloween season. The practice of
decorating “jack-o’-lanterns”—the name comes from an Irish folktale about a man
named Stingy Jack—originated in Ireland,
where large turnips and potatoes served as an early canvas. Irish immigrants
brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an
integral part of Halloween festivities. Counting to. . . HALLOWEEN!

Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who loved playing tricks on
anyone and everyone. One dark, Halloween night, Jack ran into the Devil himself
in a local public house. Jack tricked the Devil by offering his soul in
exchange for one last drink. The Devil quickly turned himself into a sixpence
to pay the bartender, but Jack immediately snatched the coin and deposited it
into his pocket, next to a silver cross that he was carrying. Thus, the Devil
could not change himself back and Jack refused to allow the Devil to go free
until the Devil had promised not to claim Jack's soul for ten years.

The Devil agreed, and ten years later Jack again came across the Devil
while out walking on a country road. The Devil tried collecting what he was
due, but Jack thinking quickly, said, "I'll go, but before I do, will you
get me an apple from that tree?"

The Devil, thinking he had nothing to lose, jumped up into the tree to
retrieve an apple. As soon as he did, Jack placed crosses all around the trunk
of the tree, thus trapping the Devil once again. This time, Jack made the Devil
promise that he would not take his soul when he finally died. Seeing no way
around his predicament, the Devil grudgingly agreed.

When Stingy Jack eventually passed away several years later, he went
to down to Hell to see the Devil, but the Devil kept the promise that had
been made to Jack years earlier, and would not let him enter.

Thinking, Ah, Heaven will surely let me in then!,
he wandered up to the Gates of Heaven, but was refused entrance because of his
life of drinking and because he had been so tight-fisted and deceitful. Jack went back to Hell to see the Devil.

"Where can I go?" asked Jack.

"Back to where you came from!" replied the Devil. "You
doomed yourself to roam the earth, a restless soul who can find no rest
ever." Lucifer tossed him a turnip and a ember straight
from the fires of Hell itself. "Here, hollow out this turnip and
place this ember inside. Use its light to find your way through
eternity."

And to this day, Jack wanders, never stopping in one place, a
hauntingly lost soul, who learned you never ever really beat the Devil at his
own game.

About Me

Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her latest fiction includes short horror stories, "Donating" in Inhuman Magazine, Issue 5 December 2011 and "Bottled Spirits" (a Predator and Editor 2012 winner and a 2013 WSFA Small Press Award runner up), “Azathoth is Here" reprinted by Innsmouth Press in Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4 in Kindle and ePub formats, short dark fantasy, “Devil in the Details,” included in Harboring Secrets anthology and short horror story, “Let Demon Dogs Lie” released in Southern Haunt: Devils in the Darkness anthology March 2014, and coming soon, a fantasy short story, “Weregoat” in Strangely Funny II anthology. And of course, she has her horror and dark fantasy tales collection in print and download, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, published by Under the Moon.
She also has done acting on stage and in films, is a Master Costumer, costuming since 1972, and she even does paranormal investigating, including for DVDs for Paranormal World Seekers, filmed by AVA Productions.